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Climate change efforts backfire in Brazil's steel industryNew research shows that climate change mitigation efforts in Brazil's steel industry have failed. Instead of reducing greenhouse gas pollution, scientists discovered that programs under an international climate treaty led to an overall doubling of carbon dioxide emissions in the industry.http://phys.org/news342707743.html
EarthMon, 09 Feb 2015 12:35:51 ESTnews342707743Overcoming the social barriers to climate consensusIt can be tempting to think that people who disagree with you are mad, bad or simply stupid. However, not only are such judgements usually wrong, but telling people that they are stupid is unlikely to convince them of the merit of your own view.http://phys.org/news342171418.html
EarthTue, 03 Feb 2015 07:50:01 ESTnews342171418Actions and beliefs behind climate change stanceStrategies for building support for climate change mitigation policies should go beyond attempts to improve the public's understanding of science according to new research.http://phys.org/news342097117.html
EarthMon, 02 Feb 2015 11:00:03 ESTnews342097117Social cost of climate change too low, scientists sayThe economic damage caused by a ton of CO2 emissions-often referred to as the "social cost of carbon-could actually be six times higher than the value that the United States uses to guide current energy regulations, and possibly future mitigation policies, Stanford scientists say.http://phys.org/news340282221.html
EarthMon, 12 Jan 2015 11:00:15 ESTnews340282221New hope for Borneo's orangutans despite threats of future climate change and deforestationThe study, led by conservation scientists at the University of Kent, and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Germany, drew on expertise from the UK, Australia and Indonesia, in consultation with leading orang-utan experts based in the Malaysian and Indonesian parts of Borneo.http://phys.org/news339669420.html
BiologyMon, 05 Jan 2015 08:37:36 ESTnews339669420Australia out of step with new climate momentumAustralian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who rose to power in large part by opposing a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, is finding his country isolated like never before on climate change as the U.S., China and other nations signal new momentum for action.http://phys.org/news336371473.html
EarthFri, 28 Nov 2014 04:50:02 ESTnews336371473Education is key to climate adaptationGiven that some climate change is already unavoidable—as just confirmed by the new IPCC report—investing in empowerment through universal education should be an essential element in climate change adaptation efforts, which so far focus mostly in engineering projects, according to a new study from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) published in the journal Science.http://phys.org/news336315319.html
EarthThu, 27 Nov 2014 14:00:03 ESTnews336315319Geoengineering our climate is not a 'quick fix'The deliberate, large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate system is not a "quick fix" for global warming, according to the findings of the UK's first publicly funded studies on geoengineering.http://phys.org/news336203533.html
EarthWed, 26 Nov 2014 05:52:23 ESTnews336203533Should the role of afforestation in climate change mitigation policy be re-evaluated?Afforestation (planting trees) to mitigate climate change could cause warming rather than cooling globally due to non-carbon effects of land use change, according to new research from the University of Bristol.http://phys.org/news336037121.html
EarthMon, 24 Nov 2014 07:38:49 ESTnews336037121Individual metropolises now global political playersBy providing the infrastructure that connects global flows and financial systems, major cities have increased their political power alongside the nation-states. In some cases, they are pursuing their own foreign policy in several areas. In her PhD thesis Kristin Ljungkvist, at Uppsala University, has studied the effects of this development and argues that certain risks should be heeded.http://phys.org/news331888549.html
Other SciencesTue, 07 Oct 2014 08:30:02 ESTnews331888549Climate change is fueling forest disturbancesClimate change is already altering the environment. Long-lived ecosystems such as forests are particularly vulnerable to the comparatively rapid changes in the climate system. A new international study published this week in Nature Climate Change shows that damage from wind, bark beetles, and wildfires has increased drastically in Europe's forests in recent years. "Disturbances like windthrow and forest fires are part of the natural dynamics of forest ecosystems, and are not, therefore, a catastrophe for the ecosystem as such. However, these disturbances have intensified considerably in recent decades, which increasingly challenges the sustainable management of forest ecosystems", says Rupert Seidl, BOKU Vienna, the principal researcher involved in the study.http://phys.org/news326359354.html
EarthMon, 04 Aug 2014 08:40:01 ESTnews326359354Global warming culprit-nations likely to change by 2030(Phys.org) —While developed countries and regions have long been culprits for Earth's rising greenhouse gas emissions, Cornell researchers – balancing the role of aerosols along with carbons in the equation – now predict a time when developing countries will contribute more to climate change than advanced societies: 2030.http://phys.org/news324798512.html
EarthThu, 17 Jul 2014 07:10:02 ESTnews324798512Global assessment shows targeted conservation to preserve endangered species provides benefits to peopleA new study published in the journal PLoS ONE assessed, for the first time, more than 500 Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites around the world to review the potential and realized benefits which conserving these places would provide not just for species, but for human well being. The researchers determined that protecting habitats in these priority areas to halt the loss of biodiversity will yield multiple benefits to people in terms of ecosystem services such as - climate change mitigation, freshwater, the future "option value" of biodiversity and cultural services.http://phys.org/news322292828.html
BiologyWed, 18 Jun 2014 06:47:20 ESTnews322292828Connecting dead ends increases power grid stabilityClimate change mitigation strategies such as the German Energiewende require linking vast numbers of new power generation facilities to the grid. As the input from many renewable sources is rather volatile, depending on how much the wind blows or the sun shines, there's a higher risk of local power instabilities and eventually blackouts. Scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now employed a novel concept from nonlinear systems analysis called basin stability to tackle this challenge. They found that connecting dead ends can significantly increase power grid stability. The findings are confirmed by a case study of the Scandinavian power system.http://phys.org/news321536373.html
TechnologyMon, 09 Jun 2014 12:39:42 ESTnews321536373Farmers skeptical about validity of climate changeThe recently released National Climate Assessment, reported by a team of 300 experts, including a panel from the National Academy of Sciences, asserts that climate change is already impacting the United States, and that the warming of the past 50 years is "primarily due to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases."http://phys.org/news318841589.html
EarthFri, 09 May 2014 09:00:01 ESTnews318841589Climate change study reveals unappreciated impacts on biodiversityShrinking ice sheets and melting ice caps are well known consequences of climate change. But a new study reveals that impacts on biodiversity will be just as severe in other regions of the world. When multiple dimensions of climate change are analyzed, different regions emerge as threatened by different aspects of climate change. The tropics, for example, will be highly affected by local changes in temperature and precipitation, leading to novel climates with no current analogues in the planet. These results, recently published in Science, expose the complexities of climate change effects on biodiversity and the challenges in predicting and preserving natural ecosystems in a changing Earth.http://phys.org/news318171063.html
BiologyThu, 01 May 2014 14:00:02 ESTnews318171063Mitigating the risks of climate change to the well-being of nature and peopleThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has approved the second part of its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, at the IPCC meeting in Yokohama, Japan. The key message of the report is that climate change poses serious risks to the well-being of nature and people all over the world. The observed effects of climate change have an impact on people's health, land and marine ecosystems, water supplies, and people's livelihoods, from the polar regions to the tropics and from small islands to continents. Poor countries that lack the means to adapt to these changes will suffer the worst.http://phys.org/news317894919.html
EarthMon, 28 Apr 2014 09:08:52 ESTnews317894919EU could afford to lead international climate action, study saysMajor emitting countries may have to join the EU's effort much earlier to avoid a temporary overshoot of the 2 degree target, but even if they joined only in 2030, the overshoot would be limited to roughly 0.2 to 0.4 degrees Celsius. The initial unilateral leadership could be achieved at little extra costs for the EU. Late-comers would have the benefit of lower costs while they delay action but would face higher transient costs once their turn to decarbonize comes.http://phys.org/news314443485.html
EarthWed, 19 Mar 2014 10:25:00 ESTnews314443485Agroforestry can ensure food security and mitigate the effects of climate change in AfricaAgroforestry can help to achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation while at the same time providing livelihoods for poor smallholder farmers in Africa.http://phys.org/news313673063.html
EarthMon, 10 Mar 2014 12:24:36 ESTnews313673063Why growing crops for food rather than energy in the Midwest can help mitigate climate changeTo examine agricultural and land use practices and their climate mitigation potential in a 14-state portion of the U.S. Midwest, PNNL scientists at the Joint Global Change Research Institute nested a high-resolution agricultural model, EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate), within PNNL's flagship integrated assessment model, GCAM (Global Change Assessment Model). Then, they used the combined system to analyze three alternative futures: one with no policy about climate change and two with different levels of climate mitigation policies. The results show that the ability of different regions to contribute to global climate change mitigation depends, in part, on the distinct biophysical characteristics of the land in each region. Nesting EPIC in GCAM also helped to show how different land use practices—for example, growing bioenergy crops or using alternative crop management practices—might contribute to climate change mitigation in a specific and globally important agricultural production region: the U.S. Midwest. Even in the future scenario with vigorous climate change mitigation policies, GCAM projects that the U.S. Midwest will remain an essential food crop production region, with limited adoption of bioenergy crops.http://phys.org/news311924740.html
EarthTue, 18 Feb 2014 06:00:01 ESTnews311924740New maps highlight habitat corridors in the tropicsA team of Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) scientists created maps of habitat corridors connecting protected areas in the tropics to incorporate biodiversity co-benefits into climate change mitigation strategies. Drs. Patrick Jantz, Scott Goetz, and Nadine Laporte describe their findings in an article entitled, "Carbon stock corridors to mitigate climate change and promote biodiversity in the tropics," available online in the journal Nature Climate Change on January 26.http://phys.org/news310666443.html
EarthMon, 03 Feb 2014 16:14:18 ESTnews310666443Climate change research is globally skewedThe supply of climate change knowledge is biased towards richer countries - those that pollute the most and are least vulnerable to climate change – and skewed away from the poorer, fragile and more vulnerable regions of the world. That creates a global imbalance between the countries in need of knowledge and those that build it. This could have implications for the quality of the political decisions countries and regions make to prevent and adapt to climate change, warn the researchers behind the study from the University of Copenhagen.http://phys.org/news309686239.html
EarthThu, 23 Jan 2014 07:58:30 ESTnews309686239Instant gratification poses barrier to addressing climate changeResearchers have detected a huge impediment when it comes to working together to halt the effects of climate change: instant gratification.http://phys.org/news306094099.html
EarthThu, 12 Dec 2013 18:08:30 ESTnews306094099Climate change will cause 'serious economic losses' in PacificThe Pacific region faces serious economic losses due to climate change and it is critical that nations causing the problem step in to help, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday.http://phys.org/news304655759.html
EarthTue, 26 Nov 2013 02:36:09 ESTnews304655759Emissions pricing revenues could overcompensate profit losses of fossil fuel ownersRevenues from global carbon emission pricing could exceed the losses fossil fuel owners suffer from this policy. Stabilizing global warming at around 2 degrees Celsius by cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels would mean to leave much of coal, gas and oil unused underground.http://phys.org/news302867648.html
EarthTue, 05 Nov 2013 09:54:20 ESTnews302867648Marine plants provide defence against climate changeSeagrass, mangroves and salt-marsh ecosystems are able to develop strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Western Australia.http://phys.org/news302417040.html
EarthThu, 31 Oct 2013 06:00:01 ESTnews302417040Delayed gratification hurts climate change cooperationTime is a huge impediment when it comes to working together to halt the effects of climate change, new research suggests.http://phys.org/news301491770.html
EarthSun, 20 Oct 2013 13:00:01 ESTnews301491770'Punish thy neighbor': Game theory shows the way to control climate changeA week ago the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivered to massive media coverage an unsettling message – climate change is real, humans are the main cause of it, and unless we stop the warming of the planet, in 50 years life as we know will be no more. The problem now is that despite innumerous attempts, world consensus on how to do it has proved impossible to reach. But, with perfect timing, research now out in Nature Climate Change by a Portuguese team, well known for their studies on cooperation, claims to not only to have identified the root of the problem, but also to have a solution. Now, they just need to be listened to.http://phys.org/news300606615.html
EarthThu, 10 Oct 2013 07:20:02 ESTnews300606615Finnish study on climate change: Procrastination over mitigation measures could prove costlyForecasts about global warming and its consequences are shrouded in uncertainty. Research scientists maintain that the risks associated with climate change are high, but are unable to estimate accurately how easily temperature reacts to changes in the levels of carbon dioxide. According to Tommi Ekholm, Research Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, who has modelled the costs of climate change mitigation measures in his recent doctoral dissertation, it is because of this uncertainty that we need to accelerate measures to mitigate global warming rather than hold back.http://phys.org/news297490728.html
EarthWed, 04 Sep 2013 05:19:12 ESTnews297490728Pacific sounds warning on climate changeThe Marshall Islands has warned that the clock is ticking on climate change and the world needs to act urgently to stop low-lying Pacific nations disappearing beneath the waves.http://phys.org/news297055180.html
EarthFri, 30 Aug 2013 04:19:56 ESTnews297055180